MPCAC vs. CACREP: Understanding Accreditation

27 July, 2026

Written by: Susan Woodhouse, Associate Professor and Mental Health Counseling Program Director

Choosing the right graduate program is a pivotal step in your journey toward becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). At Lehigh University, we are committed to transparency and helping you understand the landscape of professional accreditation.

Below, we outline the differences between the two primary accrediting bodies in the field and why Lehigh has chosen to align our online M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling with the Master’s in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC).

Note: The Lehigh online M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling is not yet accredited by MPCAC, as accreditation can only be applied for after the first cohort of students graduate the program. Once this is accomplished in May 2027, Lehigh expects to be able to attain MPCAC accreditation.

MPCAC vs. CACREP: Accreditation Comparison at a Glance

Both MPCAC and CACREP are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and both are valid pathways ensuring high-quality educational standards. They do, however, differ in their philosophical approach and some requirements.

Why Lehigh Chose MPCAC Accreditation

Lehigh University’s M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling program has a long-standing reputation for excellence, rooted in the scientist-practitioner model. We chose to map our program to MPCAC accreditation for several strategic reasons:

• Interdisciplinary Excellence: MPCAC values the intersection of psychology and counseling. This allows our students to benefit from cutting-edge psychological research while developing practical counseling skills.
• Academic Freedom & Innovation: MPCAC’s competency-based standards allow our faculty to update the curriculum quickly in response to new research and the evolving needs of the mental health field, rather than being locked into a rigid, one-size-fits-all structure. Our faculty are not limited to counselor education degrees, but also include an array of counseling psychology and clinical psychology faculty with a variety of areas of expertise and experience.
• Commitment to Social Justice: MPCAC’s mission aligns perfectly with Lehigh’s commitment to culturally responsive training. This accreditation supports our focus on social justice and serving diverse populations in a variety of settings, and students develop multicultural and social justice competencies across the full curriculum.
• Focus on Professional Competencies: MPCAC’s competency-based focus accords with our focus on bridging the gap between theory and practice. A content-based approach prioritizes the accumulation of knowledge (lectures, textbooks, assignments on particular topics), whereas MPCAC’s focus on competencies prioritizes the application of that knowledge in real-world clinical scenarios.
• Licensure Eligibility: Our curriculum is meticulously designed to meet the educational requirements for Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) status in Pennsylvania and the majority of other states.

Benefits of MPCAC Accreditation for Lehigh Students

Enrolling in our MPCAC-aligned program offers distinct advantages for your future career:

• Evidence-Based Training: You will be trained using a science-practitioner model, meaning your clinical work will be grounded in the most current, proven psychological methods.
• Focus on Developing Professional Competencies: Instead of ensuring you are exposed to specific content areas (“what is taught”), your training will focus on helping you to attain specific professional competencies (“what a student can actually do”).
  • In a high-stakes field like mental health counseling, this distinction is critical for both student development and client safety.
  • Your training will prioritize the application of knowledge in real-world clinical scenarios.
  • For example, instead of measuring success by whether a student passed a course on a specific topic (e.g., “Human Growth and Development”). A competency-based model asks: “Can the student apply developmental theory to build rapport with a grieving child?”
• Flexibility in Our Curriculum: Competency standards focus on the outcome (e.g., “The student can utilize evidence-based trauma interventions”). This allows Lehigh’s faculty to integrate the latest neuroscience or specialized research into the curriculum immediately without waiting for a national accreditor to update a specific course list.
• Flexibility for Doctoral Study: Because MPCAC recognizes the overlap between counseling and psychology, our graduates are exceptionally well-prepared if they choose to pursue a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology or Clinical Psychology later.
• Path to Licensure: Graduates of our program successfully pursue licensure as LPCs. While a small number of states have moved toward requiring CACREP-specific degrees, the vast majority of state boards recognize MPCAC-accredited programs or allow for “equivalent” educational reviews.
• Quality Assurance: MPCAC accreditation is a mark of rigor. It signals to employers and state boards that you have graduated from a program that meets the highest national standards for clinical training and ethical practice.

Note on Licensure: We encourage all potential students to review the specific licensure requirements for the state in which they intend to practice. Lehigh’s faculty and staff are here to assist you in navigating these requirements to ensure your education aligns with your professional goals.

Is an MPCAC Program Right for You?

Lehigh’s MPCAC-aligned program is a good fit if you wish to practice in Pennsylvania & most other states. MPCAC is widely accepted as an equivalent standard.

If you plan to work in KY, FL, OH or NC as a new counselor, you may face significant challenges, as these states require CACREP accreditation for licensure (see details below).

Many counselors graduate from an MPCAC program, get fully licensed in a state like Pennsylvania or New Jersey, and then move to a state that prioritizes CACREP, such as North Carolina. Once you are a fully licensed “Independent Counselor” with years of experience, many states (like North Carolina) become more flexible through Reciprocity or Endorsement rules.

Scenarios When CACREP Is a Better Fit

There is a misconception that license portability is severely limited without a degree from a CACREP-accredited program. Despite some misrepresentations about this, the fact is that the vast majority of states and agencies (e.g., VA/TRICARE systems) that mention CACREP accreditation view MPCAC and CACREP as equivalent.

About 11 states (including California, Maryland, and Utah) technically “require” CACREP in their primary language but explicitly include a clause that allows for “equivalent” programs. Because Lehigh’s program is MPCAC-accredited and meets the 60-credit threshold with specific core coursework, and includes the same number of clinical (practicum and internship) hours, Lehigh’s MPCAC-accredited M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling program is typically accepted as equivalent in these states.

There are only four states that present challenges for graduates of MPCAC-accredited programs at this time:

• Kentucky or Florida: If you plan to work as a counselor in these states, then you should probably go to a CACREP-accredited program.
• Ohio has a long-standing requirement that clinical mental health counseling programs must be CACREP-accredited for a graduate to be eligible for the LPC/LPCC. Ohio provides a very specific “Educational Equivalency” review, but it is primarily intended for people with degrees in related fields (like Clinical Psychology). It is much more difficult for a standard non-CACREP counseling degree to pass this review than it is in other states. A detailed Board review of your syllabi is likely.
• North Carolina: North Carolina’s Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors (NCBLCMHC) requires a master’s degree in counseling from a CACREP-accredited program. However, North Carolina allows for “licensure by endorsement” for experienced counselors from other states. If you have been licensed in good standing in another state for at least five years (and meet other criteria), you may be able to obtain a license even if your original program was not CACREP-accredited.

Why Lehigh Remains MPCAC

Despite the four states that pose challenges, the majority of the United States (and the VA/TRICARE systems) recognize that high-quality training exists outside the CACREP silo.

By choosing MPCAC, Lehigh maintains an interdisciplinary curriculum that bridges psychology and counseling—a philosophy that many students find more academically rigorous and better preparation for potential doctoral (Ph.D.) work. CACREP will not accredit programs whose faculty are primarily psychologists (counseling or clinical), rather than counselor educators.

The bottom line is this: if your immediate goal is to move to Kentucky or Florida, or to move to Ohio or North Carolina the day after graduation to start your career, a CACREP program is the path of least resistance. For almost everywhere else—and for those who value a science-practitioner psychological foundation—MPCAC remains a highly respected and viable credential.

Learn more about Lehigh College of Education’s online Master of Education in Mental Health Counseling.

Request More Info
Apply Now

Blend Theory and Clinical Practice With Lehigh’s M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling

The online Master of Education in Mental Health Counseling degree from the Lehigh College of Education equips professionals with holistic skills in listening and evidence-based intervention that can truly make a difference in individuals and communities. This program is available in an online synchronous format, offering students the flexibility to learn from home while still connecting with peers and faculty in real time.

Students work through a comprehensive core curriculum that teaches them specific skills and interventions, then put those skills into practice through the clinical hours they need to become Licensed Professional Counselors in Pennsylvania. Our program also features three elective areas, allowing students to specialize in the areas where they’ll work after graduation:

• Biological and Neuropsychological Bases of Behavior
• Social Justice, Diversity, Trauma and Loss
• Abnormal Behavior and Psychopathology

Learn how the College of Education is supporting its students

The Lehigh College of Education is home to top-ranked academic programs and world-class faculty. We prepare students for leadership roles in evidence-based, cross-disciplinary inquiry that shapes educational practices on the national and international level.

Learn more about the M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling by downloading a brochure, or start your application today.

About the Author: Dr. Susan Woodhouse

Associate Professor and Program Director

Dr. Woodhouse’s research interests focus on applications of attachment theory to (a) children’s and adolescents’ relationships with parents and peers, (b) process and outcomes of psychotherapy, and (c) psychotherapy research focused on improving preventive interventions for underserved, diverse families with young children to promote school readiness and mental health. In terms of promotion of school readiness and mental health outcomes, Dr. Woodhouse is particularly interested in culturally-appropriate, preventive interventions to support positive parenting. Her work focuses on better understanding the role of parenting in the development of children’s emotion regulation capacities. In her research she uses a variety of approaches, including physiological indicators of emotion regulation (e.g., heart rate variability) and stress reactivity (e.g., cortisol), as well as observational, and self-report measures. Practice and clinical training interests include the integration of attachment theory, object relations, self-psychology, and relational psychodynamic approaches with a multicultural and feminist approach.

Learn more.